I need you Help !!.. lots of pictures please read

j007dreamer · 01/18/2007, 10:28 PM

So here is my reason for this post and there are a few reasons so i hope to keep your attention.

first off i'm shamed to admit but i am unsure of some of the names of the corals. I want to try and make this a better tank and would like to research the corals better to find out where they would be most happy, hopefully you can give me your advice based on the pics where the best placement would be and the real names of the corls (reason for the pics) should that clam be in the sand or up high on a rock ?

ok so information :

Size - 50 gallons Running time about 8 months
Lighting - Coralife Lunar Aqualight Power Compact Lighting
levels - Ph: 8.3
Alk: 2.5
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0
ammonia: 0
Skimmer- aquac remora protein skimmer
Filter - fluval 405 canister filter
and one wave maker

Feedingnow this part im kind of unsure of and is one of my questions right now i feed the tank phytoplex and cyclop-eeze both about once a week and i target feed the BTA with Mysis Shrimp and the fish of course eat this as well. but im sure that you guys out there of RC have a better feeding plan. what could i give the corals and fish to help make then healthy and happy ?

Additives: i've seen post on here about amino acids, omega 3 fatty acids ?? what is this ?
So i guess what i am asking is beside what i listed above what else could and should i be testing for or adding to water (besides calcium) that could really help this tank out ?

also you can see from the picture all the equipment in the tank ? you think its to much flow ? to little ?

one more thing i know that that the best way to do things would have been with the sump and all the high tech equipment and i plan on working on that a little at a time. i guess i just want to know what could help me out with what i have at the moment until i can get the money up to buy the rest.

i honestly care for the life that is within this tank and really want to try and keep it all happy. so here some pictures of my tank that i wish looked better then it does. One day i would like have a setup as nice as some of you on RC do and hopefully with your help that can happen!!!

sorry for all the questions but there is so much to learn and if you cant tell i new to this, so any information you could give would be helpful to me. thanks in advance

sir_dudeguy · 01/18/2007, 10:50 PM

the first picture is some sort of leather. I've seen it listed as toadstool but my toadstool does not look like that. Its much flatter and not as tall but spreads out much wider.

Not sure on the second or 3rd, but the 4th and 5th are green star polyps. Can be placed anywhere and will grow w/pretty much any light. (oh, and for that leather...mine does best in medium flow in direct light, which is pc's for me)

But honestly, i think you need to get that clam out of there asap. Clams need some of the strongest lightings, and pc's are far from it. A while ago i asked if a clam would do good in my 40 breeder which is shallow (only 16 or something tall) and has 4x96w pc's...so its like 384 i think (w/out counting that is) total. With a shallow tank and that much pc light, i still cannot keep a clam according to the majority that replied to my thread about it.

So considering your tank is probably taller (unless its a 50 breeder..but i'm not sure if those are even the same height as 40 breeders or not) and your light is either equal or less than mine, the clam will probably not do good long term.

beashay · 01/18/2007, 11:12 PM

agree second picture is toadstool, mine are pretty happy mid level in the tank, third pic you have some purple mushrooms and not sure what the coral is growing around those, also in that pic is a few branches of a kenya tree showing. agree on the star polyps and I would place them in the sand away from other rocks, they will spread and cover any rock they touch and once their mat forms its very difficult to get off. I agree on the comment about not having strong enough lights for the clam from what Ive read and heard they need very strong lighting. I feed daily with cyclopeeze, frozen brine shrimp and throw microvert in 2 times a week. My fish are pigs though and some might not agree with feeding that often but let others chime in on feeding. You can also go to drfostersmith.com and type in the coral name and it will show placement and water flow, lighting ect.. and will also give ideas on feeding.

sir_dudeguy · 01/18/2007, 11:18 PM

liveaquaria.com (drsfostersmith's live part) are not always that accurate i've found. But overall i guess they're a pretty good reference site. Well on their corals anyways. I disagree with most of their fish tank sizes and whatnot tho

kass03 · 01/19/2007, 04:33 AM

I think you need more live rock. At least twice as much as you have IMO and piled up higher.
Then you can place some of the corals higher up on the rocks so they're closer to the light.
You would have to be sure it's fully cured though (like from an LFS or cured seperately if shipped) so it doesnt cause a mini cycle.
I think that alone would prolly help your tank.

I can't tell what kind of clam it is in the pict. but it looks kind of like a derasa to me which is less light needy but still most likely needs more light than you have.
Sir_dude I think you might be able to keep a derasa under that light. I would make a ledge and put it close to the top of the tank though if you tried.

When is the last time you changed the bulbs? They should be changed around every 9 months for PC's so new bulbs would prolly help also.

You did'nt list what you calcium is?
The last pict is of a lobo brain coral and it doesnt look happy at all.
I know they are usually placed on the bottom but I would move it up and see if it does any better. It might need more light than what you have.
Heres some info about them
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=437

You did'nt say how often you changed water either and you might wanna change some and see if it helps the brain and caulasteria which is the coral next to the purple mushrooms.

They don't have the exact caulastrea here I don't think but it will give you an idea of general care.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...fm?pCatId=2139

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=454

The picture below the caulastria looks like lavender mushrooms to me but really hard to tell from the pict.
Heres a picture of mine.

My 55 has been a reef for 23 years and I never feed my corals or ad phyto but I have several fish I feed once a day and am sure the corals get some of the food.

What do you have in the canister filter? Ive never owned one myself but it's said on here if you keep the media in it that it will become a nitrate factory.
If you had enough live rock (at least 50 lbs) then you could slowly remove the sponges and media. Some people put live rock rubble in it instead and others just use it for carbon.

I think you could improve things without alot of extra gadgets.
If you were me I would look into getting an aquaclear filter and modding it. The bigger the better. Get a cheap light and grow some chaeto in it for a hang on fuge.
Theres many threads of how to do that.

I don't have a sump or fuge on my 55 but I have a large hang on the back filter that acts as a sump. I grow some chateo in the main tank which you could also do but the filter would help with flow and such also.

Down the road you might want to look into getting better lights.
I used to have NO bulbs on my tank and then switched to PC's for about 6 months but it just was'nt enough light. My corals lived ok but had to be placed higher up.
I then got 6 HO T5 bulbs on mine and it really made a difference and alot of the corals really took off.
MH is another option.
If you do get new PC bulbs you might want to get 2 10k and 2 50/50 bulbs.
50/50's are half actinic and half 10k. It may not be quite as eye appealing (less blue) but the extra 10k would give the corals more light.
Thats if it has 4 bulbs?

kass

sir_dudeguy · 01/19/2007, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Sir_dude I think you might be able to keep a derasa under that light. I would make a ledge and put it close to the top of the tank though if you tried.

hm...i shall ask!

That would be pretty cool to have one of them.

Quote:

What do you have in the canister filter? Ive never owned one myself but it's said on here if you keep the media in it that it will become a nitrate factory.

VERY true. My canister made the nitrates go from 5 to over 100 within a 3 or 4 day window while i was out of town. I took the canister off (well i took out the media slowly over time i should say) and when it was all gone, i had 2 nitrates is all.

blackheart · 01/19/2007, 08:28 AM

WAY MORE LIVE ROCK

j007dreamer · 01/19/2007, 10:00 AM

Ok so from what i understand so far things i can do to help are, the clam needs more light
i need alot more live rock ? Fully cured
the canster ... i should take the media out and replace it with live rock ... and maybe just leave some carbon in there ?

im really not sure what chateo is ?

what about testing and feeding ?

blackheart · 01/19/2007, 10:23 AM

leave in some carbon for now make sure to change it though, take out your media and replace with live rock. Yes as cured as you can get. If you cant get fully cured dont add a lot on the same day treat it like adding a new fish, look for spikes in your chemistry.

Chateomorpha is macro algae

BurntOutReefer · 01/19/2007, 10:52 AM

But honestly, i think you need to get that clam out of there asap. "Clams need some of the strongest lightings, and pc's are far from it. A while ago i asked if a clam would do good in my 40 breeder which is shallow (only 16 or something tall) and has 4x96w pc's...so its like 384 i think (w/out counting that is) total. With a shallow tank and that much pc light, i still cannot keep a clam according to the majority that replied to my thread about it. "

dude....you in that set-up can keep some clams...put it at the top.....

techreef · 01/19/2007, 10:56 AM

re: testing, you said that this has been up and running for 8 months. if you haven't gotten a good sense of the highs/lows of your various water parameters yet, then I'd say do testing for the next couple weeks to get a feel for what your system is like. not a lot of testing, but enough so that you feel confident that things are stable and you know what you're dealing with. that will help you figure out how much of X you can dose your tank with, X being food, calcium, etc.

Re: clams, note that derasa clams can grow very large, over 1.5'. The crocea's stay under 6", but I think they require the most light of all the clam sqecies.

All in all, i think dreamer's tank looks pretty good. I don't see any fish in the tank, but adding more LR is definitely in order if you've added fish since you took these pics and haven't increased your LR. While costly, the above posters are right in that it gives you much more versatility when placing corals in your tank, or moving them around if you see that they're not doing well in their current location.

j007dreamer · 01/19/2007, 12:32 PM

There are some fish they just went behind the rocks when i took the pictures cause of the flash i think...

j007dreamer · 01/19/2007, 12:40 PM

So what does it mean when i read about coral and they ask for iodine, strontium, and other trace elements to the water ?

techreef · 01/19/2007, 02:35 PM

those are all included in reputable brands of salt mix like Instant Ocean. If you make regular water changes, those trace elements will be replaced. Calcium is a major element that normally requires additional supplementation, because your corals and many inverts use it for growth.

kass03 · 01/20/2007, 01:43 PM

I wouldnt take anything out of the canister yet until you add quite a bit more rock and let that establish for say like a month.
You can go slow with that as the canister is'nt really harming anything. It can be a nitrate factory later on is why they tell you to remove the biomedia.

You did'nt say what your salinity was and how often you do water changes?

kass

01/18/2007, 10:28 PM	#1
j007dreamer Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 262	I need you Help !!.. lots of pictures please read So here is my reason for this post and there are a few reasons so i hope to keep your attention. first off i'm shamed to admit but i am unsure of some of the names of the corals. I want to try and make this a better tank and would like to research the corals better to find out where they would be most happy, hopefully you can give me your advice based on the pics where the best placement would be and the real names of the corls (reason for the pics) should that clam be in the sand or up high on a rock ? ok so information : Size - 50 gallons Running time about 8 months Lighting - Coralife Lunar Aqualight Power Compact Lighting levels - Ph: 8.3 Alk: 2.5 nitrite: 0 nitrate: 0 ammonia: 0 Skimmer- aquac remora protein skimmer Filter - fluval 405 canister filter and one wave maker Feedingnow this part im kind of unsure of and is one of my questions right now i feed the tank phytoplex and cyclop-eeze both about once a week and i target feed the BTA with Mysis Shrimp and the fish of course eat this as well. but im sure that you guys out there of RC have a better feeding plan. what could i give the corals and fish to help make then healthy and happy ? Additives: i've seen post on here about amino acids, omega 3 fatty acids ?? what is this ? So i guess what i am asking is beside what i listed above what else could and should i be testing for or adding to water (besides calcium) that could really help this tank out ? also you can see from the picture all the equipment in the tank ? you think its to much flow ? to little ? one more thing i know that that the best way to do things would have been with the sump and all the high tech equipment and i plan on working on that a little at a time. i guess i just want to know what could help me out with what i have at the moment until i can get the money up to buy the rest. i honestly care for the life that is within this tank and really want to try and keep it all happy. so here some pictures of my tank that i wish looked better then it does. One day i would like have a setup as nice as some of you on RC do and hopefully with your help that can happen!!! sorry for all the questions but there is so much to learn and if you cant tell i new to this, so any information you could give would be helpful to me. thanks in advance

01/18/2007, 10:50 PM	#2
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	the first picture is some sort of leather. I've seen it listed as toadstool but my toadstool does not look like that. Its much flatter and not as tall but spreads out much wider. Not sure on the second or 3rd, but the 4th and 5th are green star polyps. Can be placed anywhere and will grow w/pretty much any light. (oh, and for that leather...mine does best in medium flow in direct light, which is pc's for me) But honestly, i think you need to get that clam out of there asap. Clams need some of the strongest lightings, and pc's are far from it. A while ago i asked if a clam would do good in my 40 breeder which is shallow (only 16 or something tall) and has 4x96w pc's...so its like 384 i think (w/out counting that is) total. With a shallow tank and that much pc light, i still cannot keep a clam according to the majority that replied to my thread about it. So considering your tank is probably taller (unless its a 50 breeder..but i'm not sure if those are even the same height as 40 breeders or not) and your light is either equal or less than mine, the clam will probably not do good long term. __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!

01/18/2007, 11:18 PM	#4
sir_dudeguy Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 10,841	liveaquaria.com (drsfostersmith's live part) are not always that accurate i've found. But overall i guess they're a pretty good reference site. Well on their corals anyways. I disagree with most of their fish tank sizes and whatnot tho __________________ TAKE...LUCK!!!

01/19/2007, 08:28 AM	#7
blackheart Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Daytona Beach Posts: 892	WAY MORE LIVE ROCK __________________ I have been cycling my tank for a month now with 75lbs of live rock when do I add the salt???? click the red house to see pics of my old tank....the better pics are at the bottom :D Current Tank Info: Back to the drawing board!!

01/19/2007, 10:23 AM	#9
blackheart Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Daytona Beach Posts: 892	leave in some carbon for now make sure to change it though, take out your media and replace with live rock. Yes as cured as you can get. If you cant get fully cured dont add a lot on the same day treat it like adding a new fish, look for spikes in your chemistry. Chateomorpha is macro algae __________________ I have been cycling my tank for a month now with 75lbs of live rock when do I add the salt???? click the red house to see pics of my old tank....the better pics are at the bottom :D Current Tank Info: Back to the drawing board!!

01/18/2007, 11:12 PM	#3
beashay Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arkansas Posts: 81	agree second picture is toadstool, mine are pretty happy mid level in the tank, third pic you have some purple mushrooms and not sure what the coral is growing around those, also in that pic is a few branches of a kenya tree showing. agree on the star polyps and I would place them in the sand away from other rocks, they will spread and cover any rock they touch and once their mat forms its very difficult to get off. I agree on the comment about not having strong enough lights for the clam from what Ive read and heard they need very strong lighting. I feed daily with cyclopeeze, frozen brine shrimp and throw microvert in 2 times a week. My fish are pigs though and some might not agree with feeding that often but let others chime in on feeding. You can also go to drfostersmith.com and type in the coral name and it will show placement and water flow, lighting ect.. and will also give ideas on feeding.

01/19/2007, 04:33 AM	#5
kass03 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Kaukauna, Wi Posts: 2,937	I think you need more live rock. At least twice as much as you have IMO and piled up higher. Then you can place some of the corals higher up on the rocks so they're closer to the light. You would have to be sure it's fully cured though (like from an LFS or cured seperately if shipped) so it doesnt cause a mini cycle. I think that alone would prolly help your tank. I can't tell what kind of clam it is in the pict. but it looks kind of like a derasa to me which is less light needy but still most likely needs more light than you have. Sir_dude I think you might be able to keep a derasa under that light. I would make a ledge and put it close to the top of the tank though if you tried. When is the last time you changed the bulbs? They should be changed around every 9 months for PC's so new bulbs would prolly help also. You did'nt list what you calcium is? The last pict is of a lobo brain coral and it doesnt look happy at all. I know they are usually placed on the bottom but I would move it up and see if it does any better. It might need more light than what you have. Heres some info about them http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=437 You did'nt say how often you changed water either and you might wanna change some and see if it helps the brain and caulasteria which is the coral next to the purple mushrooms. They don't have the exact caulastrea here I don't think but it will give you an idea of general care. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...fm?pCatId=2139 http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=454 The picture below the caulastria looks like lavender mushrooms to me but really hard to tell from the pict. Heres a picture of mine. My 55 has been a reef for 23 years and I never feed my corals or ad phyto but I have several fish I feed once a day and am sure the corals get some of the food. What do you have in the canister filter? Ive never owned one myself but it's said on here if you keep the media in it that it will become a nitrate factory. If you had enough live rock (at least 50 lbs) then you could slowly remove the sponges and media. Some people put live rock rubble in it instead and others just use it for carbon. I think you could improve things without alot of extra gadgets. If you were me I would look into getting an aquaclear filter and modding it. The bigger the better. Get a cheap light and grow some chaeto in it for a hang on fuge. Theres many threads of how to do that. I don't have a sump or fuge on my 55 but I have a large hang on the back filter that acts as a sump. I grow some chateo in the main tank which you could also do but the filter would help with flow and such also. Down the road you might want to look into getting better lights. I used to have NO bulbs on my tank and then switched to PC's for about 6 months but it just was'nt enough light. My corals lived ok but had to be placed higher up. I then got 6 HO T5 bulbs on mine and it really made a difference and alot of the corals really took off. MH is another option. If you do get new PC bulbs you might want to get 2 10k and 2 50/50 bulbs. 50/50's are half actinic and half 10k. It may not be quite as eye appealing (less blue) but the extra 10k would give the corals more light. Thats if it has 4 bulbs? kass

01/19/2007, 10:00 AM	#8
j007dreamer Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 262	Ok so from what i understand so far things i can do to help are, the clam needs more light i need alot more live rock ? Fully cured the canster ... i should take the media out and replace it with live rock ... and maybe just leave some carbon in there ? im really not sure what chateo is ? what about testing and feeding ?

01/19/2007, 10:52 AM	#10
BurntOutReefer Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Granada Hills Posts: 4,376	But honestly, i think you need to get that clam out of there asap. "Clams need some of the strongest lightings, and pc's are far from it. A while ago i asked if a clam would do good in my 40 breeder which is shallow (only 16 or something tall) and has 4x96w pc's...so its like 384 i think (w/out counting that is) total. With a shallow tank and that much pc light, i still cannot keep a clam according to the majority that replied to my thread about it. " dude....you in that set-up can keep some clams...put it at the top.....

01/19/2007, 10:56 AM	#11
techreef Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Montclair, NJ Posts: 1,046	re: testing, you said that this has been up and running for 8 months. if you haven't gotten a good sense of the highs/lows of your various water parameters yet, then I'd say do testing for the next couple weeks to get a feel for what your system is like. not a lot of testing, but enough so that you feel confident that things are stable and you know what you're dealing with. that will help you figure out how much of X you can dose your tank with, X being food, calcium, etc. Re: clams, note that derasa clams can grow very large, over 1.5'. The crocea's stay under 6", but I think they require the most light of all the clam sqecies. All in all, i think dreamer's tank looks pretty good. I don't see any fish in the tank, but adding more LR is definitely in order if you've added fish since you took these pics and haven't increased your LR. While costly, the above posters are right in that it gives you much more versatility when placing corals in your tank, or moving them around if you see that they're not doing well in their current location.

01/19/2007, 12:32 PM	#12
j007dreamer Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 262	There are some fish they just went behind the rocks when i took the pictures cause of the flash i think...

01/19/2007, 12:40 PM	#13
j007dreamer Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 262	So what does it mean when i read about coral and they ask for iodine, strontium, and other trace elements to the water ?

01/19/2007, 02:35 PM	#14
techreef Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Montclair, NJ Posts: 1,046	those are all included in reputable brands of salt mix like Instant Ocean. If you make regular water changes, those trace elements will be replaced. Calcium is a major element that normally requires additional supplementation, because your corals and many inverts use it for growth.

01/20/2007, 01:43 PM	#15
kass03 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Kaukauna, Wi Posts: 2,937	I wouldnt take anything out of the canister yet until you add quite a bit more rock and let that establish for say like a month. You can go slow with that as the canister is'nt really harming anything. It can be a nitrate factory later on is why they tell you to remove the biomedia. You did'nt say what your salinity was and how often you do water changes? kass